Since their introduction, wireless communication systems including pagers, cellular telephones and low-tier radio telephones, have become increasingly popular. Such devices provide an extremely convenient means of communication.
Wireless communication systems, particularly cellular telephones and low-tier radio telephones, are convenient because they allow their users to communicate from almost any location in a service area. Wireless phones also save time. For example, the user of a wireless telephone unit need not waste time looking for an available telephone in order to place a call.
A wireless telephone unit also allows its user to take advantage of time spent traveling. For example, with a wireless telephone, the user can be transacting business or making appointments while driving, riding or walking.
In order to fully utilize these advantages of wireless telephones, it should be convenient for the user to have the wireless telephone unit readily available at all times. In recognition of this fact, modern wireless telephones have become increasingly smaller and lighter to facilitate being carried by the user.
Moreover, a wireless telephone user who is walking or driving, may have only a single hand readily available to operate the wireless telephone unit. This consideration has lead to some attempts to design wireless telephone units that are easily operated with a single hand.
A typical wireless telephone may have a small liquid crystal display capable of displaying, for example, up to four lines of text. Using such a display, the user may scroll through stored data, such as a directory of telephone numbers, and select, for example, a number to be called. The display may also show a list of functions through which the user can scroll. When a function, such as speaker volume, is selected, the user can then input information or parameters to govern that function.
Accordingly, a wireless telephone unit with a sufficiently large display can be readily programmed and adapted to provide many features and functions that would not otherwise be available. However, as may be appreciated, the goal of providing a large, versatile, easily read display on a wireless telephone unit is at odds with the goal of providing a compact unit. Additionally to fully utilize an enhanced display some means of controlling a cursor on the display, causing the display to scroll, and selecting data items displayed must be provided. This further frustrates the goal of a compact wireless phone unit.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved wireless telephone unit that is both compact and ergonomic, but which also provides a large, versatile, easily read display and a means of entering and manipulating data on the display.